The aim of this study was to understand how international students sponsored by the "Bolashak" program administered in Kazakhstan perceived the support provided by the host institutions and the funding agency during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a cross-sectional survey to gain a foundational understanding and basic…

This critical interpretive paper deploys Walter Mignolo's geopolitics of knowledge concept to examine higher education internationalisation in Kazakhstan. Amidst growing concerns about economic and environmental sustainability, elitism and cognitive justice, among other critical issues, internationalisation remains a vital government policy. By…

The rapid outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected the students' international mobility globally. However, little is known about the challenges that the students, intending to pursue outward mobility experience in deciding between studying in the home country or a foreign country in the current reality. Using a…

This qualitative study uses data from interviews with 20 recipients of a Kazakhstani "Bolashak" scholarship to explore how international students overcome structural barriers and manifest agency in the conditions of public health emergency. The analysis addresses the gap in the scholarly literature on agency of international students by…

This paper explores eight Kazakhstani postgraduate students' reflections of their international educational experiences in the UK after their immediate re-entry into Kazakhstan. Special focus was on their language identity development after their one-year stay in the UK. It was informed by Benson et al.'s ([2013]. "Second Language Identity in…

Young people around the world are calling ever more urgently on policymakers to address today's global challenges of sustainability, structural inequality and social justice. So it is little surprise that learning in a global society, understanding sustainable development and being active global citizens are increasingly popular themes for…

The purpose of this paper is to build and test a framework of four factors stakeholders in postgraduate higher education institutions in Kazakhstan perceive as supporting or hindering language development in English-medium programs. Data in this mixed-methods study were collected through student surveys and interviews with students, faculty and…